Benchmark Hospitality Appoints Paul Reed Bogardus Executive Chef at North Maple Inn / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  Benchmark Hospitality Appoints Paul Reed Bogardus Executive Chef at North Maple Inn The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, March 2007 - Benchmark Hospitality International has announced the appointment of Paul Reed Bogardus as executive chef for North Maple Inn, the four diamond property located in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.  Dan Santiago, general manager, made the announcement.   "I am so pleased to welcome Paul to the culinary program here at North Maple Inn," said Mr. Santiago.  "He brings superb expertise and credentials to his new role as well as significant experience in our market.  We ...

John Q. Hammons Planning a 320 room Chateau Style Resort with 100,000 Sq Ft of Meeting Space on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive John Q. Hammons Planning a 320 room Chateau Style Resort with 100,000 Sq Ft of Meeting Space on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri OSAGE BEACH, Mo., and SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – March 7, 2007 – Mr. John Q. Hammons today revealed his plans to develop a first-class, luxury property on a 30-acre waterfront location near the Grand Glaize Bridge at the popular Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo. Inspired by Mr. Hammons’ extensive study of chateaus and castles of the world, the 15-story, 320-rooms and suites, European-style property will be called Chateau on Lake of the Ozark...

Balinese Development Company mc2 and Outrigger Partner on the US$45 million Outrigger Panorama Bali Resort & Spa / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Balinese Development Company mc2 and Outrigger Partner on the US $45 million Outrigger Panorama Bali Resort & Spa HONOLULU, HAWAII - March 13, 2007 - Outrigger Enterprises Group announced today that it plans to manage a brand-new luxury resort condominium property in Bali, to be called the Outrigger Panorama Bali Resort & Spa, which is being developed by the Balinese development company mc2, a local development company known for their outstanding record in developing luxury projects in Bali. Outrigger also plans to own 35 of the 170 planned resort condominium units. The new ...

Outrigger Enterprises Group Sells Management Rights for 13 Australian and New Zealand Hotels to MFS's Stella Resorts Group / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Outrigger Enterprises Group Sells Management Rights for 13 Australian and New Zealand Hotels to MFS's Stella Resorts Group WAIKIKI, HONOLULU, HAWAII - March 5, 2007 - While in Australia last week to wrap up the sale of its hotel management rights to MFS's Stella Resorts Group, senior executives from Outrigger Enterprises Group announced it plans to reinvest funds generated from the sale of its hotel management rights business back into Australia/New Zealand and start up a new chain of resorts and hotel-style accommodation throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific. ...

More than 15,000 Condo-hotel Rooms Expected to Flood Central Florida During Next Several Years; A Big and Risky Building Boom for the Lodging Indust

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Christopher Boyd, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.McClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 20, 2007--More than 15,000 condo-hotel rooms could flood Central Florida during the next several years in one of the biggest, and possibly riskiest, building booms ever to sweep the region's lodging industry. Condo hotels are outwardly indistinguishable from their conventional counterparts. They have lobbies, room service and even affiliations with the world's best-known hotel brands. It's their business model that's radical. In p...

Fort Lauderdale Commissioners Reject Proposed 20 Story Luxury Hotel to Replace an Old Howard Johnsons / March 2006

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Brittany Wallman, South Florida Sun-SentinelMcClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 21, 2007 - FORT LAUDERDALE -- A 20-story luxury hotel proposed to replace an old Spring Break favorite, the Howard Johnson's Oceanfront, was rejected Tuesday night by city commissioners. The proposed Orion hotel resort on State Road A1A, between Belmar and Vistamar streets, had the support of some beach residents and even the Central Beach Alliance, a neighborhood group known for fighting big developments. But the would-be hotel ha...

Once a Bingo Hall, the Tohono O'odham Nation Finishing the $120 million Desert Diamond Casino & Hotel, Tuscon, Arizona / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Levi J. Long, The Arizona Daily Star, TucsonMcClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 8, 2007 - The construction project at East Los Reales Road and South Nogales Highway is a far cry from the renovation project the Tohono O'odham Nation undertook there two decades ago. What started in 1984 with a bingo hall inside a white, oblong tent run by the O'odham nation has morphed into a $120 million casino-hotel project, scheduled to open this fall. The new hotel and casino also fall into a larger state-wide trend, with at least ...

Slightly Fewer Orange County (California) Hotels Sold Last Year, But Prices for Those Sold Nearly Tripled; Ritz-Carlton Among Southern California

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive  Slightly Fewer Orange County (California) Hotels Sold Last Year,  But Prices for Those Sold Nearly Tripled; Ritz-Carlton Among Southern California's Top Hotel Deals of 2006 By Sandi Cain, Orange County Business Journal Staff March 2007 Orange County hotel sales were brisk in 2006. But the real story was sales prices. Twenty-seven hotels changed hands last year, versus 29 in 2005, according to preliminary 2006 sales data from Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group. While the number of hotels sold was off slightly, the value of hotels sold surged to $742.5 million from $280.3 ...

North Korea Suddenly Open to American Travelers; Last Minute Decision to Grant Visas to Attend the Famed Mass Games in Pyongyang / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  North Korea Suddenly Open to American Travelers; Last Minute Decision to Grant Visas to Attend the Famed Mass Games in Pyongyang SAN FRANCISCO, March 8, 2007 - Geographic Expeditions, responding to a sudden decision by North Korea to grant visas to Americans for its famed Mass Games in April, has announced an April 22nd - May 1st departure to the DPRK.      Jim Sano, President of the San Francisco based Travel Company, said that "We kept our lines of communication open, after the cancellation of our two trips to North Korea last year because of devastating flooding there, and we'r...

Some Think Norfolk, Virginia's Offer of Incentives to Developer in Downtown Hotel Deal Are Over the Top / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Kerry Dougherty, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.McClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 6, 2007 - Here we go again. Another city with stars in its eyes. Hotel stars, that is. Sunday's Pilot reported that Norfolk is so desperate for a posh hotel to go with its planned conference center that the City Council has offered a billionaire builder $7.5 million to sweeten his part of this public-private partnership. Geez. Any more sugar and the developer will need insulin. The total public investment in the hotel...

Industry Professionals to Share How They Are Connecting for Results at Newmarket International's 4th Annual User Conference; Leading company repr

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report Industry Professionals to Share How They Are “Connecting for Results” at Newmarket International’s 4th Annual User Conference . Leading company representatives to discuss how connecting different islands of data and sister properties results in streamlined operations and increased revenues  Portsmouth, NH - March 16, 2007 —  Newmarket International, Inc., the leader in sales and catering solutions for the hospitality industry, today announced that several of its customers will participate in a panel session at the 4th annual NewmarketPLUS 2007 User Conference. The panel discussion will...

Nevada's Statewide Gaming Win Falls 2.1% for January 2007 Compared to Same Month a Year Ago, But No Concern / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-JournalMcClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 10, 2007 - January's statewide gaming win fell almost 2.1 percent when compared with what casinos collected from gamblers in the same month a year ago. But alarm bells aren't being sounded. A year ago, state casinos recorded an all-time monthly record gaming win of $1.14 billion, which was a more than a 24 percent jump over the previous year's figure. Using that comparison, Friday's release of the January 2007 figure, $1.117 bill...

Neptune Hospitality Advisors Arranges $23.8 million Loan for the Purchase of the Wyndham Albuquerque Airport / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  .Special Report Neptune Hospitality Advisors Arranges $23.8 million Loan for the Purchase of the Wyndham Albuquerque Airport SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - - January 5, 2007 - - Neptune Hospitality Advisors, acting as exclusive financial advisor, has arranged the senior financing for the purchase of the 276-room Wyndham Albuquerque Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Neptune arranged the $23,800,000 floating rate interest-only loan through a commercial finance company.  Upon completion of a $6,000,000 renovation, the property will be converted to a Sheraton.   The hotel was acquired by American Property Hospit...

Four Points by Sheraton Partners with William A. Anthony, Ph.D., the Nap Doctor, to Promote Benefits of a Good Nap / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  Four Points by Sheraton Partners with William A. Anthony, Ph.D., the Nap Doctor, to Promote Benefits of a Good Nap WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.- March 8, 2007 - Are you one of the 75 percent of adults who experiences daytime sleepiness? Studies show that over 50 percent of adult Americans are sleep-deprived, affecting productivity, stress and overall health. In keeping with the Four Points by Sheraton commitment to spreading the gospel of life’s Simple PleasuresSM, the brand has partnered with William A. Anthony**, Ph.D., also known as the Nap Doctor, to promote the benefits of a good nap and ce...

Historic Oxford Hotels Speed Restaurant Service and Centralises Operations with Two Solutions from NFS/ March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive Historic Oxford Hotels Speed Restaurant Service and Centralises Operations with Two Solutions from NFS March 20, 2007 - Mogford Limited is a small independent company that runs two hotels in Oxford, the Old Bank and the Old Parsonage, each with a distinctive restaurant. The company also runs Gee’s, a fine dining restaurant close to the Old Parsonage. Jeremy Mogford, the proprietor, is devoted to the city.  “Oxford is a rare place,” he says. “It’s large enough to provide a truly unique combination of history, culture, beauty and entertainment, but small enough for the vis...

NEC Display Solutions and Hospitality Partners Help Hyatt Regency Chicago Development State-of-the-art Digital Signage System

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report NEC Display Solutions and Hospitality Partners Help Hyatt Regency Chicago Develop State-of-the-art Digital Signage System March 28, 2007 - NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc., the best-selling, large-screen commercial LCD display supplier in the world, announced today the success of a digital signage deployment project with Hospitality Partners and Omnivex software to provide a dynamic signage and way-finding solution for Hyatt Regency Chicago. The installation included 40-inch NEC MultiSync LCD4010 and 32-inch NEC MultiSync LCD3210 disp...

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  The Jefferson Washington Hotel in DC to Undergo Major Renovations –  Liquidation Sale Being Conducted by NCL/National Content Liquidators, Inc. March 2007 – Washington, DC – The Jefferson Washington Hotel has closed for an extensive renovation project.  To clear the way for those renovations, NCL is conducting a liquidation sale of the hotel’s 100 guest rooms and suites.  The liquidation sale opened Thursday, March 29 and will continue daily, Monday-Saturday, 10:00 am-7:00 pm and Sunday, 12:00-5:00 pm. for 3 weeks only or until sold out!   The Jefferson, considered one of the Capita...

The Kintetsu Corporation Re-flagging the Miyako Tokyo Hotel and Miyako Osaka Hotel to the Sheraton Brand / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  The Kintetsu Corporation Re-flagging the Miyako Tokyo Hotel and Miyako Osaka Hotel to the Sheraton Brand SINGAPORE & WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) today announces the openings of two new Sheraton hotels in Japan under a franchise agreement with Kintetsu Hotel Systems, Inc., the hotel operating division of Kintetsu Corporation. The Miyako Tokyo Hotel will be re-flagged as the Sheraton Miyako Hotel Tokyo, providing 492 rooms and ample meeting facilities in one of Tokyo’s busiest neighborhoods. The Sheraton Miyako Hotel Osaka, previously known ...

What is Hotel Mixed-use? That Depends On Who You Listen To / Jim Butler / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  What is Hotel Mixed-use? That Depends On Who You Listen To By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com  13 March 2007 - “Hotel Mixed-Use” . . . and how it can be the pass key to unlocking both new development and bigger profits was the entire focus of The Hotel Developers Conference™ in Rancho Mirage. Creative ideas flowed and mixed. Nuggets of valuable insight were gathered. Introductions were made. Deals were done. The opening session of The Hotel Developers Conference™ was covered in my last posting on www.HotelLawBlog.com. And here’s what happened in the second ful...

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive So How Do We Develop Hotels “Smarter” and How Do We Get It Right - Focus of JMBMÂ’s The Hotel Developers Conference™ in Rancho Mirage, California March 7-8, 2007 By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com March 7, 2007 Wasn't it only “yesterday” that a few hundred million dollars seemed like a lot of money and made the headlines? After Blackstone's $39 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties deal was topped in deal size by Kohlberg Kravis RobertsÂ’ bid for Texas Pacific Group (TXU) for about $45 billion, it almost seems like everyone yawns at “mereÂ...

Rash of Hotel Proposals for Downtown Milwaukee Seeking City Funds Causes Concern with Marcus Corp., the Owner of Three Downtown Hotels – Inter

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  News for the Hospitality Executive By Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal SentinelMcClatchy-Tribune Business News Mar. 14, 2007  -A rash of development proposals would add 1,000 high-end hotel rooms to the roughly 2,000 already on the market -- if developers were to win financial backing from the city. Those public financing plans have drawn criticism from executives at Marcus Corp., downtown's largest hotel owner as well as concern from Mayor Tom Barrett. "The question there is, how much can the market absorb? All of that comes into play when you're ta...

Microtel Solicits Customers and Owners Before Rolling Out New System Wide Contemporary Bedding Initiative / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report  Microtel Solicits Customers and Owners Before Rolling Out New System Wide Contemporary Bedding Initiative ATLANTA (March 1, 2007) - After evaluating and testing its bedding and bedding presentation standards, Microtel Inns & Suites, the all-newly constructed chain of economy/budget hotels, is rolling out a new contemporary bedding initiative system wide known as "Dream Well."  Guests will be enjoying the comfort of the stylish bedding at all Microtel hotels by July 31st.  Microtel's new bedding experience creates a fresh, white look with plush-top mattress pad and fitted bed skirt, ...

MICROS OPERA Endorsed By Best Western International With Certified Two-Way Interface to Best Western's Central Reservation System / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online News for the Hospitality Executive MICROS OPERA Endorsed By Best Western International With Certified Two-Way Interface to Best Western’s Central Reservation System Columbia, MD — March 14, 2007 - MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality industry, is pleased to announce that MICROS has been endorsed by Best Western International and has received certification on its Two-Way interface between Best Western’s Central Reservation System (CRS) and MICROS OPERA Enterprise Solution. As an Endorsed Vendor of Best Western International, the MICROS O...

The Michigan Hotel, Motel & Resort Association Bringing Michigan's Tourism Experts Together to Review Travel Trends and Projections / March 2007

January 30, 2007

Hotel Online  Special Report The Michigan Hotel, Motel & Resort Association Bringing Michigan's Tourism Experts Together to Review Travel Trends and Projections TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., March 21, 2007 - The Michigan Hotel, Motel & Resort Association in conjunction with Travel Michigan and Michigan State University will hold a two-day conference on March 26 and 27 at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa.      "Driving Tourism 2007" will bring Michigan's top tourism experts together to review travel trends and projections, discuss legislative issues and offer educational seminars for tourism-related business owners. Representa...